Gaming I have a cat5e ethernet cable should I upgrade?

[Chriszzz]

So i'm going to be replacing my motherboard and with gigabyte z690 arous pro + 12th gen i9 cpu haven't build it yet, it has a Intel® 2.5GbE LAN chip (2.5 Gbps/1 Gbps/100 Mbps) should I upgrade my Ethernet cable to a better cable? I need about 8m to each the router to next room? will a better cat cable make any difference in latency or improve connection in games?

 

my cat5e cable has been about 8 years old I think. Apparently I bought a cat6A cable 0.5m but my brother was using it it seems a bit thicker than the cable i'm hook with

 

thank you

[BondiBlue]

Unless your network speeds are higher than gigabit your current cable will be fine provided it isn't physically broken. 

[Chriszzz]

2 minutes ago, BondiBlue said:

Unless your network speeds are higher than gigabit your current cable will be fine provided it isn't physically broken. 

my internet download speed is like 100mb / 50 upload  , if it makes no difference then i won't bother thank you 

[BondiBlue]

Just now, Chriszzz said:

my internet download speed is like 100mb / 50 upload  

Your current cable is fine. Upgrading your cable won't do anything for you. 

[BecauseRussia]

Just adding if your cat 5e cable is under I think like 10 to 25 meters and is rated for 350mhz then it can still likely do 10G, so 2.5G should be possible. Assuming of course the components at either end can that rated speed.

[Chriszzz]

7 minutes ago, BecauseRussia said:

Just adding if your cat 5e cable is under I think like 10 to 25 meters and is rated for 350mhz then it can still likely do 10G, so 2.5G should be possible. Assuming of course the components at either end can that rated speed.

It's been a long time I bought that cable i checked it today the cable says cat5e, it was around 10m when I bought it. But my ISP download speed is 100mbs? (Australia NBN), So it's not going to reach a Gig despite which LAN network I have on my mob?

 

 

[Falcon1986]

20 minutes ago, Chriszzz said:

But my ISP download speed is 100mbs? (Australia NBN), So it's not going to reach a Gig despite which LAN network I have on my mob?

What speeds are you paying for from your ISP?

 

Provided you have the necessary LAN infrastructure, you should be able to reach close to 1Gbps internally (i.e. on the LAN).

[Chriszzz]

3 hours ago, Falcon1986 said:

What speeds are you paying for from your ISP?

 

Provided you have the necessary LAN infrastructure, you should be able to reach close to 1Gbps internally (i.e. on the LAN).

nvm I have 270mb download speed

 

 

sorry I'm confused with the lan speed is that different to the internet speed? so my mobo says 2.5 gbs does that mean it can delivery 2.5gbs of data? 

[Falcon1986]

5 hours ago, Chriszzz said:

nvm I have 270mb download speed

 

 

sorry I'm confused with the lan speed is that different to the internet speed? so my mobo says 2.5 gbs does that mean it can delivery 2.5gbs of data? 

You can't get higher internet (WAN-to-LAN) download speeds unless you pay your ISP for it.

 

So if you're paying for 270Mbps, then that's what you'll be limited to, even if your Cat5e (capable of 1Gbps) or NIC (capable of 2.5Gbps) can achieve much higher. You don't magically get more because you have the capacity, but it means you have room to upgrade if you pay your ISP more money.

 

The LAN side of things is a little different. If you're transferring files between devices on your LAN you'll be limited to 1Gbps (i.e. the Cat5e cable) if that's the slowest point in your network. You can't achieve 2.5Gbps internally unless you're connected to a switch/router with the same/higher speed port.

[Cavalry Canuck]

5 hours ago, Chriszzz said:

sorry I'm confused with the lan speed is that different to the internet speed? so my mobo says 2.5 gbs does that mean it can delivery 2.5gbs of data? 

It means it can receive (and usually also send) up to 2.5Gb/s.

 

LAN speed can be different from internet speed. It’s all about the slowest link in the chain. Your Mobo is good for 2.5Gb/s. Your cable is (theoretically) good to 10Gb/s over a short enough length. Your router/modem is probably good for 1Gb/s. Your internet provider is only 270Mb/s. When connecting to the internet, that 270Mb/s is the limiting factor. But if you have another device on your network, your PC will have a 1Gb/s connection to it, with the router being the limiting factor.

[jec6613]

On 12/26/2021 at 8:03 PM, Chriszzz said:

So i'm going to be replacing my motherboard and with gigabyte z690 arous pro + 12th gen i9 cpu haven't build it yet, it has a Intel® 2.5GbE LAN chip (2.5 Gbps/1 Gbps/100 Mbps) should I upgrade my Ethernet cable to a better cable? I need about 8m to each the router to next room? will a better cat cable make any difference in latency or improve connection in games?

 

my cat5e cable has been about 8 years old I think. Apparently I bought a cat6A cable 0.5m but my brother was using it it seems a bit thicker than the cable i'm hook with

 

thank you

I would expect zero change, provided the cable is in good shape.  Check for any packet loss in your NIC properties, and if you see none you'll be good to go.

 

Also remember that that 2.5GbE chip needs a 2.5GbE switch or router on the other end to even hit that speed - 99% chance you'll still be at 1 Gbps, and the new 2.5 GbE chips are actually much more tolerant of bad cable than your existing one.

 

Anybody telling you upgrade for more speed without actually checking if the problem is the cable (e.g. packet loss) is selling you something - and if it's Audioquest, they're selling you snake oil.